


Must Be Something Inside

by BubuBORG



Series: Team Medi: Medic Craft 9 [3]
Category: Angel: the Series, SilverHawks, Star Trek, TOLKIEN J. R. R. - Works & Related Fandoms
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Star Trek Fusion, Heist
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-10
Updated: 2019-02-10
Packaged: 2019-10-25 22:11:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17733596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BubuBORG/pseuds/BubuBORG
Summary: At the Starship Casino, a sting operation works to bring it all down.





	Must Be Something Inside

The Starship Casino was a popular, albeit guilty pleasure.All of the popular gaming tables and games of chance were installed there, and people of all species and preferences gamed and bet and watched alike.Everything, from betting on racing animals to death pools to election results, to the newest games, such as Dabo and Tongo from the mysterious Ferengi Alliance, were fair game.One could theoretically bet one’s life away, literally, if he wanted to.

The place was overseen by an automated guardian of the place, PokerFace v.2.0, a robot who seemed to be a gaming machine itself, its own head equipped with a slot machine handle.None were sure of the robot’s true status, whether it was remotely controlled by the Casino’s true owner, an intelligence that had itself transferred into the machine, or an actual A.I.No one gave it much thought; after all, there were games to play!

 

 

That was the environment that the two little men found themselves in when they arrived.

And, all things being equal, it would be heaven.

But they had a job to do.

“Remember,” said one brother to the other, “I’m Frankie, and you’re Johnny.”

“Right,” The newly christened Johnny said as a handsome young cocktail waiter passed by, catching his attention.

“Hey!” Frankie said, smacking at Johnny’s shoulder.“Remember our objective.”

“Well, there’s nothing to be done until She gets here, so why not take in the...”he paused as a showgirl hurried by, “Scenery.”

“Dabo!” cried a gamer at the eponymous Dabo table.Johnny turned and found a beautiful young Cainian woman, waving a strip of gold-pressed latinum in the air, and putting it on top of a basket filled with her winnings. Her makeup was shimmery, her lips a pure silver, with a gloss so thick, they looked practically chrome-plated. She wore a small, simple black dress, with demure spaghetti straps, revealing furry, tufted shoulders, matching the luxurious, long fur on her long, slightly curly tail.She looked at the brothers, and walked over to them, a sultry, slightly arrogant air about her.

“Hello, boys,” She greeted them.“The name’s Styles.Samantha Styles.”

“Nice to meet you,” Frankie said, not quite meeting her eyes.“Well, let’s get this over with.”

Suddenly friendly, the three walked through the maze of velvet rope and gaming machines.Styles placed a hand on both of the dwarves’ heads while they wrapped their hands around her waist.

“So how’s the odds on that Dabo game?” Johnny asked her.

“Luck is luck, my friend,” Styles replied.“Either you got it or you don’t.That’s why I prefer trusting my skills.”

“Speaking of which,” Frankie said, “Any nibbles?”

“Not yet,” Styles said.“But I think he’s ripped off a few of the people in the arena.”

“Did you interview them?”

“I asked some questions, but I had to be circumspect.I’m working a cover here, you know.”

“You are, indeed,” Johnny sighed.“Don’t stop doing that thing with your hand.”

Styles immediately removed the hand, but not before tweaking the dwarf’s ear.

They entered the arena, where a show was in full fury, with feathers, leather, nudity, and lots of laser and light effects seemed to hold the audience in sway.

“Humm,” Samantha Styles said, watching the spectacle.“I don’t think Jem and the Holograms meant their music to be used quite this way.”

“Jem and the Holograms?” Frankie asked, cocking his head.

“They were truly outrageous,” Styles gushed.“Okay, I think we got a nibble.Check my left wrist.”

Johnny looked up, and saw that her wrist was, indeed bare.“All right.Now we need to find him.”

“Found him,” Styles said, and quickly moved through the throng of audience who were exiting the arena.Before the two dwarves could do anything more, she performed a high jump above the crowd, and they soon heard a dull smack sound.

“By gum, she’s got legs,” Johnny said, admirably.

“And she knows how to use them,” Frankie added.When the Cainian woman returned, she held the thief, the reptilian criminal known as Quick-Pick.

“Didn’t do it--illegal seizure--know my rights,” He sputtered as Styles held his left arm by a stump, and a prosthetic, clamp-like claw in her other hand.

“Of course, you didn’t,” Frankie growled, snatching the tennis bracelet out of Quick-Pick’s own pocket, along with five other, choice items.“They just fell into your coat, they did.”

“IS there a problem, madam?” an artificial voice buzzed as PokerFace rolled onto the scene.His cylindrical head was completely featureless, save for round, white optics covered by wraparound shades.The sculpted, stylized hair on the top and the painted on goatee and curled moustache on his face made him a caricature of an old-fashioned gentlemen, though his tank-tread lower half seemed to disagree. 

“Yes, there’s a problem,” Styles complained.“This...person stole my bracelet.I caught him as he tried to get away.I expect you’ll do something about it?”

“Of course, madam--we’ll take care of it for you.You have recovered your merchandise?”

Styles grasped her bracelet, her eyes inscrutable.“Yes.”

“Well, then, no harm done.I offer my apologies for this most...unfortunate incident.”

“What do you plan to do about it?” Styles demanded.“What kind of place do you run where thieves come in and steal from people?”

“We will handle him and make sure he is dealt with by the...proper authorities,” PokerFace replied.“In restitution, I have given you carte blanche at the bar for the evening, and have waived the cost for your mini bar in your room.Good gaming!”

As PokerFace wheeled away with Quick-Pick, the thief turned to look at them, victory in his reptilian eyes.

“You got a room?” Frankie said to Styles.

She shrugged.“I was playing Dabo so well, they offered it to me.”

 

 

As the three left the casino’s dock in a rather souped-up, red shuttle, Samantha Styles pinned back her hair, and took its helm.“Minicraft to Medicraft, come in.”

“Medicraft is here,” the reply drawled.“You are out of jamming range.Report.”

“It went like clockwork, Commander,” Styles, now Lieutenant Buffi K’gar, reported.“The pickpocket took the bait, and the robot covered for him.”

“Understood.Return home, on the double.”

 

 

 

 

 

Back at the restored Medic Craft 9, K’gar walked out of the shuttle, still wearing her dress, with Fíli and Kíli--Frankie and Johnny no more--not far behind.Joy Reid was there to greet them.

“How’d it go guys?” She asked, handing a Padd to Kíli, the ship’s engineer.

“Went well,” Buffi said, her heels clicking upon the deck, causing small echoes in the open shuttle bay.“Nice little casino, if you discount the whole corrupt Mob element.”

“You chose the little black dress,” Joy noted.“I thought you were leaning toward the magenta.”

“ _I_ would choose the magenta; it’s my favorite color,” Buffi pointed out.“But I was in character, and the black dress was less conspicuous.”

“Must be why _I_ liked it,” Joy muttered as Buffi passed her by.“So!Boss!when do we go riding in for the bust?”

Kíli loosened his bolo tie and looked up at his engineer-in-training.“You’re joking, right?”

“Well, not ‘we’ as in me, but...you know, us.”

“As soon as we figure out how to shut down their operation over there.” Kíli said.“Why are you so eager, kiddo?”

“Hey, maybe I just wanna play the games,” Joy said, suddenly coy.

Kíli sniffed and removed his tie.“Are you even old enough to gamble, young lady?”

“I’m nineteen!” Joy protested. 

“Nineteen,” Kíli grumbled.“I, young lady, am almost one hundred and sixty years old.”

“I know,” Joy said.“Your mother’s name was Dis, your uncle was Thorin Oakenshield...”

“Forgive me,forgot who I was talking to,” Kíli said.“Your knowledge of Arda’s only second to your brother.”

Joy shrugged.“He liked the history stuff.I preferred studying the nuts and bolts of the ancient Númenórean technology.I think that’s why I’m here.So much of that tech’s been spread all throughout Limbo.”

Kíli nodded.“From Automata to Dolare, from Fence to the Artificial Sun, I can see it.”

“Hey, maybe the gaming machines at the casino’s derived from Númenórean tech, Commander?”Joy suggested, with a wink.

“I think you just want to play,” Kíli said, and folded his arms.“I need to assign you a few chores.”

“You’re such a wet blanket, Mr. Kíli!Why can’t you be more like your brother?”Joy exclaimed.

“Just because my brother’s a renowned libertine doesn’t mean I need to indulge myself, especially when there’s work to do,” Kíli harrumphed.“Now come on, youngster.I think I have just the thing for you to work on for me.”

 

 

 

Adam and Joshua Reid looked over Buffi’s data and floorplans of the Starship Casino.They both started nodding as they read various points that she had highlighted in her report.

“So it’s basically a renovated saucer section of the old _USS Hornet_ , an original Constitution-class ship,” Adam said.“Who repurposed it as a casino?”

“Some private entrepreneur,” Buffi replied.“Over the years, the casino changed ownership several times, and they added and renovated the old saucer section for their own needs.You’ll find several different design approaches to it, both architecturally and structurally.”

“No rhyme and reason,” Josh noted.“That’s going to be difficult to find accessways and crawlspaces.”

“What’s the goal about the casino?” Buffi asked.“We already infiltrated it ; what’s the next step?”

“PokerFace reports to Mon*Star,” Adam told her.“He’s one of the Mob.He runs the casino for him and all the profits go to him.However, he’s operating in violation of several Federation-Klingon treaties.He’s giving no tribute to the High Council, but he’s so peripheral that he never shows up on their radar.We also suspect that he’s offered kickbacks to several influential Klingon houses for looking the other way.”

“We’re going to change all that,” Josh announced.“I’ve gotten in touch with my friend in the Empire, his name is Karg, and he’s going to be listening out for the beacon that we’re going to be igniting on the casino.He’s going to board the casino, examine them, flat-footed, and decide that the High Council needs to know about it, demand their tribute, and force the casino out of the light-year limit, and back into Federation jurisdiction.”

Buffi’s eyebrows raised a bit and tilted her neck.“I like it.So we need to activate a transponder beacon on board the casino?”

“Kíli and Joy are working on getting it ready right now,” Adam said.It’s going to be transmitting a widecast signal, in addition to the internal security camera signals, so that Karg will have more concrete evidence.”

“Then we better hope that he gets on the ship so he can personally vouch for that information,” Buffi said.“Surveillance cameras can be faked with holographic data, and it’s not admissible.Not by Federation standards.We need more.”

“Well, lieutenant, that’s a very bold statement.How can you be so sure?” Adam asked.

“The Federation Council looks at things like this all the time when interstellar incidents comes across their halls,” Buffi explained.“As much as I hate to bring up who my mother is, the fact is, is that I’ve learned about her job for as long as I can remember.”

“Then we have to make sure that Karg gets on that casino, without any kind of warning,” Adam said.He captains a B’rel-class Bird-of-Prey, that cannot transmit a transporter signal when cloaked.Suggestions?”

“We can include him in the undercover element,” Buffi suggested.

“No.That has no possibility of deniability if the mission doesn’t come off the way we want,” Josh said, shaking his head.“We can’t blow our cover in this mission, Buffi, not if we want to continue with our cloak of ignorance.They don’t know who exactly we are.”

“We have to ensure that Karg works with us, but separate from us.That requires a coordinated effort,” Buffi said.

“It’s going to take a mighty high-stakes grift to pull it off,” Josh commented.

“Grift?” Buffi said, questioning.

“A grift...a con.A scam,” Josh said.

“Guess we’re going to have to work the room,” Buffi said, and she told them her preliminary plan.

 

 

 

 

The sporty red shuttle arrived back at the Casino two days later. Once again, Samantha Styles, the reigning champ of Dabo, had returned to test her luck once more.However, this time, her escorts were a little...taller. 

“Ms. Styles,” the attendant greeted her.“Glad to see you back again.Business or pleasure?”

“What’s the difference?” She quipped.“These gentlemen are with me, this is--”

“Harvey Frank,” the dark-haired gentleman said, as the attendant recorded his name.

“Barney Milk,” the Blond one added, and extended his hand.The attendant did not take it.

“Very well.Ms. Styles, the house has told me to inform you that your balance at the casino is a hundred bars of gold-pressed latinum, and your gentlemen may have a starter’s credit offifteen apiece.”

“Thank you,” Styles said, and the three strode off.

Past the souvenir shop and the main lobby lie the gaming floor of the casino.

“The main floor is an open area of about twelve hundred square meters,” Buffi said.“Security is posted so that one guard is responsible for about twelve square meters.”

“Any breaks in the grid?” Josh asked.

“The gaming tables and machines get their own guards, naturally,” Buffi said.“But any areas near the wall that don’t have a game are pretty much left alone.”

“If we can extrapolate the original Constitution-class saucer design from the current floorplan, I might be able to find an access tunnel,” Josh told Adam.

“Start your search from the aft of the room,” Adam told him.“With the original impulse engines and fusion reactors there, there would be the original Jeffries tubes and such.Go.”

Barney Milk waltzed through the crowds, with a smile on his face. 

“Well, hello there,” a female voice, rather high-range, nasal, and squeaky, directed at Josh.“Haven’t seen you around.”

“Name’s Barney,” he replied.“And you haven’t.Or...maybe ya haven’t noticed me yet.”

The girl had dyed green hair and oversized shades, obscuring her eyes.her complexion was pale and her lips were a fluorescent pink.“Shame if I didn’t.See me soon?”

“You know it, chere,” he promised, and continued on his way.

 _Cute, in a creepy sort of way_ , he thought as he walked.He didn’t let himself think of anything else but the mission. 

The security guards wore black formal outfits with heavy, almost sculpted shoulder pieces with an unusual, square-spiral design on their lapels.they all carried scepter-looking weapons.Sure enough, the back wall of the gaming room was sparsely guarded; there were only two guards, both flanking the mens’ and womens’ restroom facilities.

That could be a way in, Josh thought.But there’d be an attendant in there to be worried about snitching his location and intentions.There’d have to be a way to get rid of him without causing suspicion...

Then he turned back around.The green-haired girl was still watching him, and waved at him as he turned her way.

 _Opportunity, I hear ya knockin’_ , Josh thought, and turned back around.

 

“We’re going to be graced with a performance tonight,”PokerFace, who had quickly found Samantha Styles and her consort on the floor.“You would be more than welcome to attend the concert.”

“Actually, I’m a bit of a singer myself,” Styles told the robot.“Small venues, family functions...”

“She’s been very well received,” Adam as Harvey Frank added. 

“Is that so?” PokerFace said.“We don’t really hire talent without representation.”

“A fellow named Ched reps me when I sing,” Styles said, haughtily.“Then again, he’ll rep just about anybody.”

“INteresting,” the robot replied. 

 

The guards smirked a bit, but didn’t say anything as Josh and his companion entered the men’s restroom. The room was blue with white stalls and blue tiles.The lighting also seemed to have a pale blue tint.The girl giggled and pressed next to him as the attendant gave him a curious look.To Josh’s surprise, it was she who spoke up.

“We want privacy.Give it to us,” She said, with more than a bit of authority.Josh stood there with her, his slip of latinum still in his hand, his mouth a bit ajar.

“Yes ma’am,” the attendant replied, and exited. 

With that, the green-haired girl pressed her hot-pink lips to Josh’s still open mouth.She caught him by surprise for a second, but soon returned the heat for a second. _Don’t enjoy it too much_ , he reminded himself. _I’m on a timetable._ “Damn,girl,” he gasped after extracting himself from the kiss.“I didn’t count on _you_ bribin’ the attendant!”

“I’m not an old-fashioned girl,” she replied.“Plus it helps if you’re me.”

“I caught myself a woman of importance,” Josh drawled.“What is it you do exactly around here.”

“You really are new, aren’t you?” the girl squealed.“Well, we need to keep a few secrets, now don’t we?”

“I totally agree,” Josh said, and moved toward a stall.“Dere any surveillance cameras in here, chere’?”

“He’s shy, how darling!” She rushed him, pushing the both of them into a stall, attacking his mouth.Josh found himself jammed on the commode seat, while he struggled to get to a pocket.He came up with something in his pocket, but it wasn’t what he wanted. _Damn!_ he silently cursed. _That’s the cayenne pepper!_ Though usually taken for a good-luck charm, the vial of spice was now anything but.He dropped it onto the washroom floor while he tried again.Now that the girl was exploring him with her hands--why did he have the luck to drag in an aggressive girl!--and finding the right spots, it was a struggle to concentrate on the next task.Finally he found what he was looking for. 

She disengaged his mouth, gasping for air.“You don’t know how long it’s been,” she said, breathing deeply.“It’s harder than hell to get a lay around here.”

“Aw, shucks,” Josh drawled.He placed his arm around her, his hand nuzzling her neck...

...And injected her with the hypospray in his hand.

“Sorry, _chere_ , you just gonna have to wait a little longer,” he muttered as he gently placed her atop the commode seat.

 

Back out of the stall, he whipped out his tricorder and waved it around the room.He found what he was looking for in the ceiling a meter from the sinks and mirrors: a seemingly vertical hatch.However, there was no ladder rungs in the walls, nor were there any other way to reach the nearly three meter height.

For most people.

Josh concentrated below the hatch, carefully flexing unseen tensors within himself, as a orange-yellow glow accumulated near his feet.He rose from the ground, using his inborn ability to manipulate a biogenic propulsion field around himself, though it took the utmost concentration for him to hover just so.He quickly undid the hatch, and tossed it onto the sink with a loud clatter.And then, his need to concentrate over, he shot into the tube in a streak of orange light.

 

Adam’s chronometer beeped once.He looked at it and nodded at Buffi.“Phase one’s complete.Now we have to give him time to finish Phase two.”

 

PokerFace wheeled around frantically, as if looking for something that he had lost.“Oh, dear! Where could she be?Oh dear!”

Buffi put a hand on the robot’s shoulder and asked, “What’s wrong?”

“She’s not here!Not here!She went on five minutes ago!”He turned his head toward Buffi and asked.“The crowd wanted a singer!They’ll tear me to pieces if I don’t deliver!Would you be so kind as to do me a favor?”

“I dunno,” Buffi said, biting her finger dramatically.“I’m a little out of practice, and my agent has guaranteed me a ten-gee cred minimum--”

“Done!” The robot exclaimed, his voice approximate to exasperation. 

Adam watched in amazement as Buffi whipped out a padd and had PokerFace authorize the transaction.“Just need your...um...signature here.”

Somehow the robot complied, and Buffi shook a manipulator arm, garnished with a decorative cuff.“It’s a deal!Will you need some warm-up time?”

“Mere seconds, darling, just show me to the stage,” Buffi said, and turned to Adam, smiling as PokerFace wheeled away.

Adam stared at her for a moment and asked.“How did you do that?”

“Serendipity,” Buffi replied.“Pure and simple.”

As Buffi walked away toward the doors leading to the arena, Adam walked after her, still asking, “No, really.How?”

 

 

Joshua crawled through the old Jeffries tubes of the casino, trying his damnedest not to lose his way, trying to remember his old Academy lessons which took place at the Fleet Museum aboard the _USS Eagle_ , a pristine Constitution-class ship which the venerable museum lent out once a year for Academy cadets.Joshua had performed winningly in the lesson to use his knowledge of conventional starship design and layout to make his way in the antique ship.While his team won the competition that day, that was six years ago, and while grades were the priority then, now he had to perform. 

“Ugh,” he sighed with mild disgust.“I don’t think they’ve serviced these tubes for years.”Dust covered nearly every square inch of the tube.This was bad news; He’d have to clean up good if they wanted to leave, scot-free.But he pushed that out of his mind when he finally emerged from the tube. 

“Ahh, how loverly,” He muttered.He leaned forward, grabbing the ladder rung in the wall and flipped his body around to orient himself feet first to the floor, and quietly landed three feet below.“Auxiliary control room.Still got it.”

The auxiliary control room operated as a backup bridge of those ships of a bygone era; starting with the Excelsior-class ships, they began to be phased out of ship design; Kíli told Josh as much in the briefing.Detractors, Kíli also said, complained that too often those who tried to commandeer those ships did so via that room; all bridge functions were effectively duplicated there, and those with the expertise could lock out the bridge proper, leaving the ship to their mercies.

So Joshua hoped.

The room was empty; that was half the battle right there.He walked around and secured all the doors and exits with a magnetic device Kíli pulled out of nowhere.He then walked over to the navigation console, knelt down, and pulled the grate off, revealing ancient duotronic wiring and circuitry.He screwed up his face, plunged his arm into the hatch, and pulled out a half-dozen wires. 

“Nopers,” Josh muttered.“Couldn’t do this with isolinear chips.”

He pulled out the beacon device.With a quick snap of a red bus cable, he severed it, and placed the cable sections on each side of the device.The device’s mechanism clamped upon the connection, preserving the circuit.The device began to come to life, blinking a green indicator in a midtempo pattern.No noise in Kíli’s device.Up and running, he shoved the wires back into place, trying to hide the beacon as best as he could.

Now for the hard part, Josh realized.How to get out of the station before security was on to them or the Klingons storm the casino.

 

***

 

Outside the casino, a small terminium tube, utterly nondescript, came to a halt before the bow of the saucer, and, slowly, made contact with the outer hull. 

Within the cramped tube, the covert operative tapped a few controls on the minimized screen, and tuned into the frequency.A locator beacon, amplified several fold, began to pour forth from the casino.

The only roadblock now was the wait for his ship to get there.He adjusted his air control, thinning it slightly.It would be uncomfortable in the interim, but he would have to endure.

 

***

 

Buffi on the stage seemed to be a perfect fit, Adam thought as she got up and looked at the lights, bossing stagehands about the lighting.She tossed her blond hair around as she pointed at the various spotlights, ambient lights and other stage paraphernalia.“See, it’s got to be warm lighting, or else it’s gonna make me look totally green,” she explained as the light got redder and redder.“There!Perfect!”

Adam stood at the left-hand stage exits, watching her work until she caught sight of him and shooed him away.He then walked, nonchalantly, back into the arena, and took a inconspicuous seat four rows from the front.Other people started to file into the arena around him.A general consensus feeling of anticipation, excitement was common among the patrons, Adam sensed.But there was a strange undercurrent of fear, which puzzled him. 

PokerFace wheeled out onto the stage, in front of the red velvet curtain.“Ladies, Gentlemen, and various...others...It is my regret to inform you that the promised headliner event has been...inadvertently postponed.”

This caused a bit of a wave of curiosity amongst the attendees, but, Adam noted, very little disappointment.Why would the crowd attend an event which they were not hopeful to see?

“However, in lieu of the illustrious Melodia, we are happy to introduce the Starship Casino to new talent, found right here, by yours truly.Please be kind to her.Miss...Samantha Styles!”

The crowd applauded politely as the curtain opened, revealing Buffi in her black dress, her hair swept up, and in total command of the stage.For reasons Adam couldn’t fathom, the show dancers remained on the stage behind her, their feathers and assorted outfits shimmering in the red cabaret lighting.

The music started, causing many on the stage to start suddenly, not anticipating the cue.Professionals that they were, they recovered quickly, and moved their feathers accordingly.Buffi herself was calm in the midst of the activity around her, the eye of the storm.She looked at the various corners of the audience, and began.

 

_Ooh, baby, love me right_

_Let me love you til you get it right_

_Why can’t you let the others be_

_Cuz with you is where I got to be_

 

_Ooh, sugar, where’ve you been_

_Hanging out with your male friends?_

_Listen, somebody’s gonna hurt you_

_The way you love to keep hurting me_

 

_Ooh, Baby, love me right_

_Let me love you til the morning comes_

_Ooh, Sugar, Love me Right_

_You know you want to be the only one..._

 

 

With the return to the pumping dance melody, Adam noticed something interesting about the performance.It was almost too well choreographed for something that was strung together not even ten minutes ago.Yet his Cainian officer seemed to be a consummate pro, as the performers, showgirls, showboys, and the rest of the ensemble on stage acted as if they had rehearsed for weeks.When Buffi raised an arm, the dancers did the same.Almost instantaneously.Adam knew that Buffi K’gar was an exceptional, though occasionally turbulent person to work with, he did not anticipate the many mysteries that accompanied her.But soon, the activity lessened as the musical bridge ended and she began the next set of verses:

 

_Ooh, Baby, understand_

_I want you to be the only man_

_But it seems, though, it’s getting too hot_

_I think I’ll start to have my own fun_

 

_Oh, Baby, It’s plain to see_

_That I’m qualified to fill your needs_

_You think you put it over on me_

_Oh honey,baby, just you wait and see!_

 

_Ooh, Baby, love me right_

_Let me love you til the morning comes_

_Ooh, Sugar, Love me Right_

_You know you want to be the only one..._

 

The song’s coda consisted of vocalizations and reiterations of the refrain, and more perfectly choreographed dancing.The crowds didn’t need any cajoling to applause and cheer at the end.Buffi--that is to say, Samantha Styles--was a hit.

 

 

 

When Josh peeked out of the Aux control room, he snagged an ancient PADD, complete with stylus, to attempt to see if he could control the saucer’s impulse engines in an attempt to help the process along.The corridor seemed vacant.All he needed to do was to get back and rendezvous with Adam and K’gar and the mission was a success.

Then Murphy’s Law struck again. 

“Hey!What’re you doing there?” a security guard barked.

“Got lost,” Josh lamely tried to explain, as the sharply dressed guard walked up to him, brandishing his sceptre-weapon. 

Another one came along not too long after, and Josh just kept smiling.

“There’s no way you could have gotten lost, sir,” the guard challenged.The turbos up here are all guarded.Come on--how did you sneak up here?”

Josh shrugged.“I just really wanted to get to the restroom.”Not exactly true--He’d already been there, and left an unconscious girl in his wake.Not where he wanted to return to, in case she came to.

“There’s a restroom area on the main floor,” The guard said, contentiously.“Try again.”

“You know, I know that, but there was this guy that went in there with a pretty girl, and they looked like they wanted their privacy--you know, they wanted to join the Light-Year Limit Club...”

“It just figures,” The guard grumbled, “I swear, humans have no control of their libidos.What’s your name?”

Joshua’s smile was crooked it spread across his features.“You can call me Gambit.”

“Well, we’ll get you back to the gaming floor.Don’t know how you got all the way up here, but you gotta understand, the rules are in place for your protection.Okay?”

 

It was at that moment that a device on Joshua’s person beeped.

 

“What was that?” The first guard demanded.

Joshua frowned.Bad timing.Everything was in place, he just had to get to the rendezvous point.The beep meant that Karg was ready for them to activate the signal. It also meant that his air wasn’t going to last very much longer.No more games, he decided.His hands began to glow with his signature orange-yellow energy. 

“Answer me!”The guard said, starting to put a threatening hand on Joshua’s chest.

Josh struck out with his arms, the added force of his power knocking them, hard, against the bulkheads.He searched them for their key cards, found one, and ran for the nearest turbolift.The Casino was refitted with a security system which required keycards to gain access to restricted areas.With a swipe of the card, he was in the turbolift cab.The ancient lift was the original Constitution-class design, and it took him several moments to realize that the handles along the side of the cab meant he had to turn them before he told the computer his destination.

“Main Bridge,” he said. 

The turbo stirred, a slight whining noise occurring outside as he made his way upward.

When he arrived, he saw that the bridge had not been spared a Starship Casino renovation.It was now the Back Room, the office of PokerFace.However, it was strangely vacant, but the smell was mildly pungent.

There was a figure behind the desk.

Forgetting the mission momentarily, Josh walked to the figure.The smell was worse; It seemed to be, by all appearances, another of the guards, with their identical outfits, with the exception of his face. 

It appeared robotic, a metal face, a parody of a Circus ringmaster, with slicked back hair, pointy moustache, and goatee. Wraparound shades were knocked off the face, revealing slot-machine eyes.

But that smell was anything but robotic.Joshua tugged at the face, and it gave. Underneath was a desiccated face, nearly perfectly mummified in the controlled air of the Casino.Its lips were pulled back, revealing an unnerving rictus, and the eyes were completely hollow, wires connecting from the sockets to the...mask?Face? 

And Josh made the connection.The similarities to the mask to the robotic host on the gaming floor.

“If the robot below was PokerFace 2.0, than you must be the original,” Josh whispered.“Some sort of...cyborg...”

What happened?Josh wasn’t entirely sure.Perhaps Version 2.0 was a true upgrade to the cyborg.Transferring a human consciousness to a robotic body was not unheard-of.But it was irrelevant.He had to get Karg onto the ship.Did the Casino still have transporter capability?The Back Room held the answers.He frantically searched the desktop for anything that resembled a master control area.He found an access point on the desk and delved for any clues for transporter capability: targeting sensors, pattern buffers, anything.Finally he found it: The cargo transporter low on the saucer, for one, and a sole personnel transporter two decks down.He didn’t have much time. He found the previous PokerFace’s weapon, same as the security guards, found it still fully charged, and he rushed to the door.

 

Adam grew worried.There was no second beep that would indicate that Phase two was completed.Buffi had already finished a second song from an impromptu set, and herself gave Adam an impatient glance.However, the show still could have a few more songs in the set, so for their part, the two of them were safe.But Adam knew that if Karg was in position, He would soon be running out of air.

He decided to take the initiative.He sent his own two tone message to Josh, an interrogative-sounding noise, just to make sure he was on schedule.

 

The message sent back two tones.Boop-boop.Phase two was complete.Adam sighed with relief, and gave Buffi a thumbs-up sign.She nodded and continued on with the third song in her set.

 

Out of Adam’s peripheral vision, he saw three figures burst into the arena.The largest that caught his gaze was a huge, bovine alien, a male with a large hornspan atop his head, wearing a silk loincloth and an shoulder-covering garment that seemed reminiscent of ancient Egypt.His cloven hoofs made clipped reports on the tile floor, over Buffi’s performance.He was followed by a green-haired female, looking slightly disheveled and purely furious. PokerFace rounded out the three. 

“Uh-oh,” Adam murmured.Their first official wrinkle had arrived.

 

Buffi picked up on it as well, and cut her rendition of “Better Be Good To Me” short.She jumped off of the stage, and announced, “By the Three Crosses!There she is!Melodia herself, in the...flesh!”She quickly rushed over to Melodia and took her hand, and smiled widely.“It was an honor to open for her!” Melodia's stare was daggers as she pulled her hand away and brandished what appeared to be a shoulder-slung keyboard.“Better smile, lady,” Buffi said, under her breath.“I’m saving you some major face here.”

“And who is the furry bitch that just stole my show?” Melodia snarled.

“Samantha Styles, darling,” Buffi said, sweetly, then bared her teeth.“Don’t bother remembering the name, it’s this face you’re going to be seeing for quite a while.Harvey?”

Adam dutifully took Buffiby the arm, and, under a wash of applause, left the arena.

“Did I tip my hand too much?” Buffi said, trying not to glance over her shoulder.

“Not to worry,” Adam said, with an enigmatic smile.

 

 

 

 

Even for someone as in shape as Joshua Maurice, He was still slightly out of breath when he made it to the transporter room.The decor was slightly changed, more glitzy, as befit a casino.Not that Josh took the time to notice.He frantically pulled at antiquated knobs and levers, to get Karg safely from the vacuum of space, into the system’s pattern buffer, to the transporter--

“No!Dammit!” Josh cursed.It wouldn’t work if he materialized in the transporter room.There’d be deniability of events and questions raised.

“Site to site?Site to site, come on!” Josh exclaimed, frantically retuning the targeting scanners to point within the ship.Preferably, at the entrance of the casino.He heard footsteps running toward the room

“Come on, come on!” He exclaimed.“Get that Klingon bastard in the gift shop, NOW!”

As he pulled the final triad of sliders down, the indicator on the console showed that the pattern buffer was emptied.However, it was vague; It didn’t show whether Karg had actually survived.

“You!Stop right there!”

The security force had arrived, barking orders.And Josh, knowing that what happened next didn’t really matter for his cover, fired up his hands.

The first guard was out before he took his first step in the room.The second took a step back, and considered the towheaded man with the glowing hands and eyes.

“Well?” Josh said, taking one menacing step toward the reluctant guard after the other.“Got something in that lil’ magic wand, gonna work on me?”

“I-I...This level’s restricted,” The guard said, gamely

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Josh grumbled.“I was just leaving anyhoo.Fall down.”

“What?” the guard asked, still waving his quavering staff at Josh.He was then struck in the head.Hard.He fell to the ground with a soft thud.

“Honestly,” Josh grumbled.“Whatever happened to ‘listens to and follows directions’?What are they _teachin_ ’ security guards these days?”

 

 

Adam and Buffi moved briskly through the gaming floor, keeping one eye out behind them.While the security guards looked a little more...aware, the patrons kept on playing their games. 

“I don’t like this,” Buffi said, a barely palpable growl escaping her throat.“I can smell the tension in the air.Literally.The proverbial jig might be up.”

“You need to hurry.”

Buffi snapped around to find a tall figure, dressed in a dark long duster coat.Seemingly humanoid, he had handsome, mildly leonine features and intense gaze.

“Who are you?” Buffi snapped.

“Buffi!” Adam exclaimed, which caused the man to react visibly. 

“Oh, come on.We’re done here!” Buffi grumbled.“And you haven’t answered my question.”

“You’re a Reid, aren’t you?” The stranger asked, directing the question to Adam.

“You heard the young lady,” Adam said, adjusting his shades. 

The stranger smiled.“I’m a friend.”

“That’s nice.Keep an eye out for Karg,” Adam directed to Buffi.

“Shouldn’t be too hard; Klingons give off strong scents,” She said, bringing her canine snout up to bear, sniffing the air. 

“You don’t need to do that,” The stranger said, smiling enigmatically.

Buffi turned to face her, annoyance in her eyes.“Could you let me--!”

“He’s right,” A deep timbered voice said.Buffi turned around to find a tall, broad-shouldered Klingon man with a peculiarly twisted head ridge.The cranial ridge pattern twisted slightly to his left, resembling a comma.Buffi absently noted how it resembled the front lock of her hair, how it fell down the left hand side of her muzzle. She let out a rare nervous laugh and said to him, “Hah.‘Smell’ being a relative term, of course,” she said, diplomatically as hell.

“Of course.Klingons take pride in their...presence.”Karg said.Not exactly dressed in full Klingon regalia, he wore the boots and pantaloons with the trapezoidal belt, but a sparse, gold colored vest, showing his prodigious Klingon physique.

“Did we do it?” Adam asked Karg.

“It is done,” Karg replied.“The _HuD’daQ_ is already within hailing range of this... what is it, a betting parlor?”

“Something like,” Buffi replied.“Bet the High Council would like to get its mitts on some tribute from the latinum this place practically hemorrhages, eh?”

“I do not see that happening,” Karg sighed. 

“I don’t believe you are an invited guest,” a cool, tinny voice said.

It was PokerFace 2.0

With a large phaser rifle, attached to his shoulder, aimed at Buffi’s head.

“It is you who are an uninvited guest,” Karg countered.“This...place is within the realm of the Klingon Empire, and you offer no tribute to the High Council?This is an insult!”

The robot backpedaled.“I’m sure that there could be...arrangements that can be made.Certain...payments that could be directly paid...to your house?”

“My house is a house of honor!” Karg roared.“Me and my clan do not accept tainted monies!”With that, he brandished his own disruptor pistol.“You can tell that to your gargoyle master, when we tow this den of sin back over the border!”

“Well?” Adam asked the stranger.“You know I’m a Reid, and I saw you react to Ms. K’gar’s name.You know us, but we don’t know you.I can’t even read you.”

“I was sent to keep an eye on you,” The stranger replied.“You can call me Mr. L’Ange,” he said, pronouncing it in a French _Long-zhe_ sound.“Your godfather--”

“Okay,” Adam said.“Say no more.You didn’t make much of an impression on Ms. K’gar.I suppose that’s par for the course.”

“K’gar,” L’Ange said.“Buffi K’gar.”

“Buffi Mar’i K’gar, as in daughter of the Cainian councilwoman,” Adam elaborated.“And maybe you might want to stay away from her.”

“What do you know about it?” L’Ange said, suddenly defensive.

“All I know is, she’s a brilliant officer, when she’s not being less than possible.And I know that she’s been hurt.By a man.”

Their conversation was cut short by a short, guttural cry.The Minoan Mumbo-Jumbo was on the ground, with a stocky figure in a black outfit standing over him. 

“Hey guys!” Josh exclaimed.Miss me?”

“Commander, what happened up there?” Buffi asked, trying her best to sound respectful.

“It’s these damn guards,” Josh said, with a faint smile on his face.“They just won’t stay down on cue.It was ver’ annoyin’.Hello,” He said, glaring at L’Ange.“Did we pick up another stray?Because we have barely enough to feed Stinkerbell as it is...”

“Josh, Ms. K’gar, this is Mister L’Ange, he was sent here to Limbo to keep an eye on us for the good Admiral.”

“Joshua Maurice Reid,”Josh said, extending his hand.“L’Ange.French?”

“The name is; that’s about all,” L’Ange said, enigmatically. 

“’The Angel’,” Josh said, translating the name.“As in ‘guardian’?”

“We’ll see.”

“Hey!” Buffi exclaimed, still standing next to the Klingon.“Do you know whether or not we have impulse on this rustbucket?Because Karg’s ship is having trouble towing this in time.”

“Yeah--Yeah!” Josh said.“But if the lot of us go up there and start firin’ up the casino, that’ll blow our cover for sure!”

“I have a plan,” Buffi said.“We need to stage the first Klingon raid on Federation property in a few decades.”

“I’ll have a team come on and commandeer the casino,” Karg said, with relish. 

“Mom’ll handle the diplomatic entanglements, I’m sure,” Buffi said with a dismissive wave.“She’ll just be grateful I didn’t forward the bill to her.”

“It’s good to be the diablador,” Adam said, quoting one of Buffi’s oft-used phrases.

“Don’t I know it,” Buffi said. 

“KoS!” Karg barked into his communicator.“ _HighoS!jol yIchu’! meH petu’!_ ”

Within a minute, six Klingons in full warrior regalia beamed amongst them in a spray of red energy.All brandished disruptors, all six aimed at the robot which seemed to be vibrating.

Apparently, PokerFace 2.0 was still human enough on the inside to shake in his treads.

Their presence stopped the gamers in their tracks.Karg smiled at the fear they were beginning to cause.“This casino is now being commandeered by the Klingon Empire,” he announced.“I suggest all of you tithe your winnings to us immediately, unless you have a desire to visit Rura Penthe?”

The Klingons ordered all of the gamers to lay prone on the ground, their hands on their heads.“I’m afraid that includes you as well, my friends,” Karg informed Josh and the others.“If you are excluded, you will be suspected.”

“Too true,” Adam said.“You heard the man.On the ground and spread ‘em.”

 

 

 

 

“...And we stayed there, lying on the ground for the entire trip back across the border,” Josh explained to Captain Stargazer in his office at Hawk Haven.They had just filed their report on their mission, two days after their performance at the Casino.The Reids and Buffi stood before Stargazer’s desk. 

“Yeah, that’s a hell of a thing,” Stargazer grumbled, reading over the reports.“Karg reports that he was very impressed with all of your cooperation.While the press is having a field day over the sensationalism of the concept of a ‘Klingon raid’ on Federation property, this incident just might have cemented even better relations between us and the Empire.”

“I forwarded our reports to the Cainian Ambassador, and she made sure that calmer heads prevailed in the Council, sir,” Buffi added.

“Noted, and thank you, Lieutenant,” Stargazer said, looking over further documentation.“Wouldn’t recommend hanging off of your mom’s apron strings too often, though.Just as a matter of professional course.”

“Of course, sir.”

“And the matter of this L’Ange guy,” Stargazer continued.“You think he’s on the level?”

“I still have to get in contact with Gandalf to verify it, but I am reasonably sure,” Adam replied.

“Well, then.Okay!Congratulations, you guys, you just accomplished your first mission with flying colors.Now, here’s the sucky part.You’re gonna have to stand by for further instructions.”

“Stand by?” Buffi said.“I don’t understand, don’t we want to go on to the next target?”

“Don’t work that way with the mob,” Stargazer explained.“They make a move, we make a move against them.That’s how it works.So until they make a move--”

“We’re moveless,” Buffi said, with a audible sigh.

“Don’t worry, Buffi,” Josh said, with a reassuring smile.“We won’t have to wait long.”

 

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> "Love Me Right (Oh Sheila)" by Angel City.


End file.
